So, Wednesday morning I started sending out my Daily Devotions again after being offline for almost a week. The Scripture verse in that devotion was 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17. After sending it out, I opened my Daily Verse and guess what I found …
“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the archangel’s voice, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are still alive will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so we will always be with the Lord.” [1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 HCSB]
I thought – “OK, I Am Ready!” It doesn’t take much to be ready. We simply need to be “in Christ.” Then again, it takes everything to be ready. We must be “in Christ.”
Matthew 10:32: “Therefore, everyone who will acknowledge Me before men, I will also acknowledge him before My Father in Heaven.” (Open declaration to follow Christ Jesus)
Romans 6:11: “So, you too consider yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” (Refusal to entertain sin)
Luke 9:23: “If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me.” (Putting away self-interests daily)
Luke 14:26: “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, he cannot be my disciple.” (Love for Him takes precedence over any other)
To be “in Christ” means we must adopt, embrace, and live the words of Jesus Himself, “Not my will, but yours, be done.” [Luke 22:42]
Ok, I’m ready … with God’s help and grace and wisdom and indwelling Holy spirit, “I’m ready!”
